Life On The Line: How to Lose a Million and So Much More

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An action for payment in this court was met with the plea of no jurisdiction on the basis that the contract was a consumer contract. In 2003, he joined St Mirren, but again his stay was a short one, and he moved on after making only three appearances. If such a person acts partly within, partly outside his trade or profession the situation only falls within the scope of Article 5 if he acts primarily outside his trade or profession".

The Sheriff Principal observed that the question was similar although perhaps less clear than in Chris Hart (Business Sales) Ltd. Finally, I was referred to Standard Bank London Ltd v Apostolakis (Queen's Bench Division Commercial Court, 19 January 2000 unreported). Born in Edinburgh in October 1971, Kevin Twaddle was a tall winger/forward who was signed by Billy Davies at the start of the 1999/00 season. Delve into our features and read about controversial moments, Match Fixing, Defunct Lanarkshire Cups, European Matches and Tours the club have embarked upon.It is sufficient to observe that the underlying purpose of the legislative provisions takes into account the principle that the "acquirer of goods and services should be protected against the abuse of power by the seller or supplier, in particular against one-sided standard contracts and the unfair exclusion of essential rights in contracts" (European Council Directive 93/13/EEC). Thus, in the opinion of the majority of the delegations it will, normally, only apply where the person who supplies goods or services or provides credit acts in the course of his trade or profession. This is the harrowing and moving story of how one man's life fell apart spectacularly because of his addiction to gambling and how he finally managed to conquer his demons.

Two decisions of the European Court which are of relevance to this issue were discussed in submissions to me. It should be interpreted in the light of its purpose which is to protect the weaker party and in accordance with other International instruments with the same purpose such as the Judgments Convention.

In the present case the agent for the defender submitted that in employing someone effectively to act as a recruitment consultant the defender was not engaging in a managerial act; it was a matter of personal requirement that he seek employment. That case concerned an argument between a Greek couple whose occupations were respectively described as civil engineer and lawyer. It has been observed that those developing the legislation have sought to establish that "only final consumers acting in a private capacity should be given special protection": (Report by Professor Schlosser on the Accession Convention Section 4 - Official Journal of the European Communities 1979 see 59/71). They might also require to contract for specialist advice on electrical, mechanical or chemical engineering problems.

any relevant principles laid down by the European Court in connection with Title II of the 1986 Convention and to any relevant decision of that court as to the meaning or effect of any provision of that Title". In Chris Hart (Business Sales) Ltd v Niven, 1992 SLT (Sh Ct) 53 a firm specialising in the marketing of hotel and licensed premises raised an action for payment of sums claimed under a contract with the owner of licensed premises for the marketing of the premises. He said that he did not think that the European Court could have intended those words as a substitute for the words of the relevant EEC directive (with which he was concerned) or of the Brussels Convention, but even if they were to be applied literally concluded that the contracts in question were for the purpose of satisfying the needs of the defendants in terms of private consumption.That decision was the subject of an appeal to the Sheriff Principal the argument being that the defenders had been acting in the course of their trade and that Rule 3 did not apply. He played forever in the Scottish league probably why I never heard of him before but an honest account and a nice guy deep down. The sheriff in holding that the jurisdiction of the court was not excluded by virtue of Rule 3 of Schedule 8 of the 1982 Act, also excluded from probation certain averments by the defender which seek to found on the 1999 Regulations.

Whilst the defender is an individual he is effectively in the position of a sole trader, and the engagement of an agent to "exploit the identity and profile" of a sole trader can hardly be equivocated to that of an individual obtaining employment. Kevin eventually signed for Hearts but his move to Tynecastle was hampered by a back injury which limited his appearances, after a brief spell with St Mirren in 2003 he retired from senior football. I have equally no doubt that this agreement, which is a contract of agency, is one in which the defender appointed the pursuers to act on his behalf in all matters relating to the carrying on of that profession, including the all important aspect of getting him a contract of employment in the first place.Whilst that case involves a wholly different definition of "consumer contract" the agent for the defender referred to a passage in the opinion of Lord Caplan (at p 1209) where he dealt with the question of whether the pursuer was dealing "in the course of a business". They were using the money in a way which they hoped would be profitable but merely to use money in a way one hopes would be profitable is not enough, in my view to be engaging in trade".